Seal for seal-locks.



No. 744,235. PATENTED NOV. 17, 1903. 0.1. REYNOLDS & 0. E. CHAPMAN.

- SEAL FOR SEAL LOCKS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

L -W w il AIIIIE rl IIIIWIL c m m 3 a y ou l I I l I I I l IIIIIIL WITFIESEES: #1?

No. 744,235. Patented November 17, 1903.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CIIARLES J. REYNOLDS AND OLIVER E. CHAPMAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHU- SETTS, ASSIGNORS TO UNIVERSAL CAR SEAL COMPANY, OF KITTERY, MAINE, AND BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SEAL FOR SEAL-LOCKS.

-QPEGIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 744,23 5, dated November 1'7, 1903.

Application filed June 13, 1902. Serial No. 111,500 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: which the seal is to be thrust. The wings Be it known that we, CHARLES J. REY- broaden the head (1 of the seal enough to NOLDS and OLIVER E. CHAPMAN, citizens of 'make it broader than the length of said slot. the United States, residing in Boston, in the The letters or characters on the head 01 may county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, indicate the owner or manufacturer of the have invented a new and useful Improveseal or be of the natureof advertising. They ment in Seals for Seal-Locks, of which the folare not, however, usually intended to indilowing is a specification. cate the destination of the car, as such let- This invention relates to seals (preferably ters are usually placed upon the strip por- 1o metallic) which are adapted to extend into or tion Ct of the seal. At g the head is scored between plates or locking devices making poror grooved in line with the opposite edges of tions of seal-locks, such as are particularly the strip a, said scores extending for an apapplicable to freight-cars, although such sealpreciable distance below the surface of the locks are sometimes used in other connechead and across it. A tongue h is formed 15 tions. The seal usually consists of a narrow longitudinally in the seal by means of the flexible strip of metal having stamped upon U-shaped cut 70, said tongue extending from it letters or characters referring to the railthe main portion of the seal through the neck road, destination of the freight-car, &c. or part which extends through the slot in Our improved seal is intended particularly the pin and into the head, preferably inter- 20 for application to seal-lockingcontrivancesin secting the embossed letters therein. At a which the seal extends from the look through point in the seal a little to the rear of the a slotted pin, to whichit is to be secured in look when it is in position is a hole Z of any such a manner that it cannot be withdrawn or desired shape. removed without exhibiting indications of its In Fig. 4 a seal-lock s of any suitable con- 2 5 having been tampered with. struction having internal projections which In the accompanying drawings, in which are adapted to extend through the slots Z) is similar letters of reference indicate corresuspended by a chain m from the side at of a sponding parts, Figure l is an elevation of freight-car. A pin q, suitably slotted vertiour improved seal..- Fig. 2 is a similar view cally, as indicated at 10, Fig. 2, is suspended 30 with the location of the lock when the seal is by a chain?" from the car and hangs through 8c in the position indicated in dotted lines. Fig. a staple 15, driven into said car. A slotted hasp 3 is an enlarged seciion taken on line X, Fig. 10 swings from the door 1) of the car and rests 1. Fig. 4 is a front View of a portion of the on and around the staple between the pin (1 side of a freight-car, showing the manner in and the side of the car.

3 5 which the seal is used. In practice the rear end of the main portion a represents the narrow flexible metallic a of the seal is thrust through the slotted pin strip provided with openings b,through'which q and into the lock 8, where it is held by suitthe bolt or bolts of a suitable lock 3 are inable projections in the ordinary manner. As tended to extend when the seal is in'position the head 12 is broadened by means of the wings 0 in the lock. The strip portion is adapted to 0 until itis wider than the slot win the'pin q, receive suitable letters or characters applied (see Fig. 2,) it cannotwhile retaining its shape in the ordinary manner. At one. end this be drawn through said slot. Should a perstrip a is provided with wings 0, whereby a' son endeavor to tamper with the seal and broadened end or head d is produced, said draw the head through the slot by folding it 45 head being provided also with embossed or inward, so as to make it of the same width 5 raised letters or characters 6, whereby such as the strip portion Ct, he would naturally and broadened end is rendered practically thicker practically necessarily make the folds at the than the main or strip portion a, the thickscores 9. If the seal were not broken when ness thus produced being greater than'the the wings 0 were folded in, it would become 50 ordinary width of the slot in the pin into broken at the scores when the wings were folded back, and thus show that the seal had been tampered with. The embossed characters e thicken the head (Z, so that its thickness is greater than the width of the slot in the pin, and thus provide another means of detecting an attempt to tamper with the seal, inasmuchastheeinbossing must behammered down in order to pull the seal through the slot.

The hole Z, which is formed close to the rear end of the look when the latter is in position, so as to be visible outside the lock, is intended to indicate any tampering with the seal, which would change the relative position of the lock and seal.

The tongue 71', which extends from the main portion a just inside the look into the head (1, its free end being in said head, is necessarily crossed by the pin when the seal is in position in the look, as illustrated in Fig. Should a person out the seal either legitimately or illegitimately between the head thereof and the lock in order to cut oif the head, he must sever it either between the pin and the seal or between the pin and the head. In either case the tongue is severed and its end falls out, leaving a hole in the head, and thereby preventing the head, tongue, and strip portion a from being united by soldering or otherwise returned to their original position without detection. Hence legitimate cutting, which must be across the tongue, severs the tongue, so that the seal cannot be used again.

No-clailn is made in this application on the lock or 011 any of the parts m, g, r, t, and u, as this invention relates solely to the seal, and said seal may be used in connection with any lock provided with projections adapted to extend through holes in the seal and with any pin or similar device formed with a slot of suitable width and length to admit the body of the seal, but not to allow the passage through it of the head thereof.'

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A seal for seal-locks, eonsistin g of a strip (4 adapted to be secured to the lock, and a head (Z provided with one or more laterally-extending wings c, said head being formed with one or more grooves or scores g in line with the edges of the strip, for the purpose set forth.

-2. A seal for seal-locks, consisting of the strip a, and a head adapted to be held by a suitably-slotted pin, said head and strip being provided with a tongue h extending across the point at which the pin embraces or crosses the seal, said tongue having one end free to drop from the seal in case the tongue is severed, for the purpose set forth.

3. A seal for seal-locks, consisting of a strip (4 provided with one or more slots 1) adapted to be engaged by and within the seal-lock when the strip is in position, and a head integral with and broader than said strip, the said strip being provided with a hole Z additional to the slots 1) and located at a point outside the look when the seal is in position therein, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. REYNOLDS. OLIVER E. CHAPMAN.

lVitnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAMS, A. N. BoNNEY. 

